U.S. Geostrategy: NATO s Eastward Expansion and the Ukraine Crisis

Mondo International Updated on 2024-01-31

Foreword: I vaguely remember that in 1967, Sojitz in Garden City, New York, published a memoir that was personally reviewed by General Marshall's five-star review. The author is an old adversary of the Volunteer Army, Joint ** Commander Matthew Bunker Ridgway. In the fifth chapter of his memoirs, he wrote: "I met some soldiers along the way, and from them I deeply felt that this was a discouraged army, they had lost their confidence and fighting spirit, and they had only one thought, to escape as far away from the squadron as possible." This description seems to be reappearing again in today's 21st century. While NATO's eastward expansion is approaching Russia, the United States is gradually moving away from China.

One: The U.S. containment strategy.

Geopolitically, the United States is more like an "island country" far away from the Eurasian continent, and can only take advantage of the contradictions of mainland countries to maintain the established "new world order" like Britain in the past. Once the United States weakens, it will become a second Australia. Any country that achieves dominance in Eurasia will be targeted by the United States. Russia is geographically isolated from each other, with almost no ice-free ports from the White Sea in Asia to the Baltic Sea in Europe. The only ice-free port in the north is Murmansk, but due to environmental and geographical conditions, it is not possible to build a large port. During the Soviet era, the United States deployed a large number of submarine sonars in the Norwegian Sea, restricting the actions of the Soviet Northern Fleet. The environment in Kamchatka is harsh and inaccessible, and it is impossible to build a large port. And Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk in the east are also blocked by the Pacific island chain. This is also the reason why Russia and the USSR have been looking for an outlet to the sea.

Tsarist Russia had tried to move south from northeastern China to Ludagang, and the Soviet Union had tried to move south from Afghanistan to the Indian Ocean. However, both efforts were strongly resisted, leading directly to the collapse of Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union. Shortly after the end of World War II, Brzezinski devised a geostrategy to trap the Soviet Union in a constant push of action. This set of strategies is divided into the European front, the Far Eastern front, and the Southwestern front. The European and Far Eastern fronts have gradually solidified with the establishment of NATO and the Japan-South Korea alliance, but Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan on the southwestern front have wavered. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan gave the United States a chance. If the Soviet Union broke through into the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, it would threaten the energy and lifelines of the West. Therefore, the United States must contain, determined to engage in a non-military contest with the Soviet Union. In 1981, after Reagan came to power, he issued Decision Directive No. 75***, calling for a decisive battle with the Soviet Union. **Intelligence Director Casey developed a lethal covert strategy.

The first strategy was to secretly support the Polish Solidarity trade union, to agitate the Polish people to challenge the Soviet Union through "**" and "Radio Free Europe". In July 1986, Poland** finally withstood the pressure of the Polish trade unions and gave up resistance. The second strategy was to form a strong international pressure in Afghanistan, to smear the Soviet Union through television and radio, to monitor the activities of the Soviet army, to guide the guerrillas to attack the Soviet army, and to lead the war to the territory of the Soviet Union. The third strategy was to target the economy of the USSR, to prevent Western banks from lending to the USSR, to cut off technology and resources to the USSR**. The fourth strategy was to blockade Soviet technology, to impose a technological blockade on the Soviet Union through the Export Control and Control Act, and even to provide false technological information. These four strategies were lethal and effective, knocking the Soviet economy to the brink and eventually leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Two: The origins of the war in Ukraine.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the five Central Asian countries were still close to each other. Russia has signed a number of bilateral agreements on security with Central Asia, formed joint forces, and become Russia's strategic rear. This has caused dissatisfaction in the United States, which believes that once Russia's national strength is restored, it will definitely make a comeback. From the point of view of the United States, once Russia falls to the United States, it will face the risk of being cut off from its own territory and the passage to the sea will be completely blocked. The United States then relied on the "911 "incident, the rapid establishment of military bases in Central Asia, the deployment of strategic bombers and AWACS aircraft, the successful penetration of the Russian rear.

However, Russia counterattacked, causing the United States to suffer major setbacks in Georgia and Central Asia, and the incompetence of the American military in Afghanistan also caused a heavy blow to the Central Asian strategy of the United States, facing the difficulties of the Soviet Union at that time. The United States was forced to withdraw from its bases in Central Asia and, eventually, from Afghanistan. It's just the first round. Central Asia could not break through, so the United States looked for the next breakthrough. It is necessary to find places of political instability, social unrest, economic backwardness, and people's changes in the hearts and minds of the people around Russia. This place could be Iran, Pakistan, or Ukraine. Therefore, the absorption of Ukraine into NATO has become the main goal of the United States, and Russia will naturally not sit idly by and watch the United States erect a cannon port under Moscow's nose. This is how the war in Ukraine began.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Poland carried out a brutal "Polonization" in Western Ukraine, and the Soviet Union carried out a great purge after retaking Western Ukraine. Although the economy of Western Ukraine is not as good as that of Eastern Ukraine, it is the cultural center of ethnic Ukrainians. With the support of the United States, Western Ukrainians overturned Yanukovych's neutral course and sought to join NATO. This sparked a frantic Russian counterattack that plunged Ukraine into chaos.

3. The U.S. Asia-Pacific retreat strategy.

China's rise is rapid, surpassing that of the United States in some areas. For the United States, China is not only the weakest link in American geostrategy, but also the strongest adversary in the future. Since 2007, the United States has pursued the Indo-Pacific strategy, which is a strategy of encirclement based on maritime space. On May 30, 2018, the U.S. Pacific Command was renamed the Indo-Pacific Command, stepping up efforts to woo India and other countries in the South China Sea. However, China's rise is unstoppable, and the U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific region suffers a setback.

Against this backdrop, the United States' Asia-Pacific strategy has begun to retreat. China's rise continues unabated and it has become the strongest rival of the United States. Strategic setbacks in the Indo-Pacific region have forced the United States to reassess its Asia-Pacific policy. In the face of China's rise, the United States is no longer the only hegemon and must adjust its strategy to deal with an increasingly complex situation.

Conclusion: The evolution and adjustment of the US geostrategy has always run through the development of international relations. From containment of the Soviet Union to infiltration of Ukraine to a retreat in the Asia-Pacific region in the face of China's rise, the United States has been looking for strategies to adapt to the new era. The geopolitical interpretation continues, and the international landscape is also undergoing subtle changes.

The above is a detailed analysis of the geostrategic evolution of the United States, from the containment of the Soviet Union to the infiltration of Ukraine to the Asia-Pacific retreat in the face of China's rise. This series of changes reflects the complexity and volatility of international relations. In commenting on this topic, it can be developed in several ways.

First of all, the geostrategic adjustment of the United States is closely linked to the evolution of the international situation. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed for hegemony, and the United States adopted a containment strategy to suppress the Soviet Union through military, economic, and cultural means. However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, international relations underwent profound changes. The United States has fewer opponents in Eurasia, while geopolitics in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region have become more important. As a result, places such as Ukraine have become new strategic focuses.

Second, the strategic adjustment of the United States is also influenced by domestic political and economic factors. The article mentions that the United States' Indo-Pacific strategy in the Asia-Pacific region has suffered setbacks, and China has risen as a formidable adversary. This could lead to a geostrategic reorientation of the United States. At the same time, changes in domestic politics can have a profound impact on foreign policy, such as the values and priorities of different times.

Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, the article mentions the penetration of the United States into Ukraine, as well as Russia's counterattack. This geopolitical game involves multiple levels of national sovereignty, geopolitical security, and cultural identity. As a crossroads of Eastern and Western cultures and interests, Ukraine has become the focus of international political wrestling. The United States is trying to draw it into the Western camp, while Russia is trying to prevent it, creating a complex geopolitical landscape.

Finally, the article touches on the impact of China's rise on the U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy. China's rise in the economy, science and technology has made it an important global power, while the United States' hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region is challenged. This change has forced the United States to reconsider its strategy to better adapt to the international landscape of the new era.

In general, the geostrategic evolution of the United States is the result of a combination of factors. As the international situation continues to change, the interpretation of geopolitics will also continue. In this process, countries need to constantly adjust their strategies and find strategies to adapt to the current situation in order to safeguard their national interests and security.

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